Meeting of Educators of Marist Social Works of Catalonia

The Educators of the Marist Social Works of Catalonia, Province of L’Hermitage, met on April 26 in Barcelona. There is a total of 15 social works, comprising 3,653 users, served by 134 professionals and 128 volunteers. Brother Lluís Serra, president of the foundations of Maristes Catalunya, defined the meeting as ‘a hymn to hope’. He affirmed that “social work is about dreaming”. And encouraged the participants: “Your dream is the dream of the many people you meet every day in your centers. And these people, thanks to your dream, can make their own dreams come true.”  The meeting, led by the director of the “Hogares Champagnat” (Champagnat Homes) of Catalonia, Rubén Cano, focused on artificial intelligence.

The keynote speech “How to approach the use of artificial intelligence” was given by Anna Inglés, from the cooperative project Colèctic, which works for the inclusion, autonomy and empowerment of people and communities in the social, labor and technological fields.

One of the most awaited moments by the educators was the presentation of the dossier of the social works, by Raúl García, coordinator of the social works of Maristes Cataluya, and Albert Costa, member of the communication team of Maristas Cataluña. A document that “allows us to explain who we are, what we do, build a narrative and let us all know where they are working from and that are interesting materials that will allow us to have updated data each year,” said Raul Garcia.

The meeting was also attended by Maria Teresa San Miguel, head of the Area of the Tutelated Youth of the Generalitat de Catalunya, who thanked the young people who work in the Champagnat Homes. Sònia Martínez, director of the Federation of Entities for the Care of Children and Youth, also participated.

The closing of the meeting was in charge of the Director General of the Champagnat Foundation, Loreto Rubio, who thanked all the people who made the journey possible, and stressed the importance of networking because everything we live “is an experience of learning and exceptional growth”, and recalled that the networks between people are “effective and affective”.